"It was during my eighth or ninth plant medicine journey that I was finally getting a real sense of freedom. I was feeling so elated that I told the moon I had a special request. I explained that this life had been so full of pain for me that I didn't think I could do it all again. So I asked her if in my next life she could make sure that I found the plant medicine as soon as possible. Her reply floored me. She typed, 'Gerry, that's a request about next time, but it's the same one you used last time.'"

Plant medicine? The moon typing? It probably seems incomprehensible. Gerard Armond Powell was a rags-to-riches success story—a member of the 1 percent—but also an extremely unhappy person with multiple addictions. On a fast track to destroying every relationship that ever mattered to him and considering suicide, he was looking for a miracle, a way out. He found it in the form of plant medicine and a shaman who introduced him to the truth of his life, and laid the groundwork for a psycho-spiritual journey that would lead him to reconnect with his soul, heal his addictions, and, finally, achieve a lasting sense of peace and happiness. This experience changed Powell, and convinced him to share the universal truths he learned with as many people as he could, which he does at the acclaimed Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, and now with readers in Sh*t the Moon Said.

This mesmerizing story gives readers a blueprint to chart their own course to happiness. The first step is to learn who they really are and the possibilities of what they can still become. Second, they have to achieve a reconnection with their souls. And third, they must heal their hearts. Sh*t the Moon Said provides us with an irreverent way of highlighting our shared unconscious wisdom and its life-changing potential. Powell's candid tale and unlikely journey will help inspire readers to know themselves better, and to find the path to their own greatest redemption.

Chapter One

The Pursuit of Happiness

This happened during my eighth or ninth plant medicine journey, when I was getting a real sense of freedom. I was 'on the moon,' both literally and figuratively. I was feeling so elated that I that told the moon I had a special request, and the moon typed, 'What is it?'

I explained that this life had been so full of pain for me that I didn't think I could do it all again. So I asked the moon if in my next life she could make sure that I found the plant medicine as soon as possible, so I didn't have to go through everything again.

Her reply floored me. She typed, 'Gerry, that's a request about next time, but it's the same one you used last time.'

Does what you've just read make any sense to you? Plant medicine? The moon? The moon typing? It probably seems incomprehensible. In fact, I hope it does—because maybe it also seems intriguing. Maybe it catches your interest enough so that you'll read on. If you do read on, I can promise you two things. First, by the end of the book the paragraphs above will make perfect sense to you. Second, how you look at your life—and perhaps how you live your life—will never be the same.

Essential Questions

Let's start with three essential questions:

1. Why Does This Book Need to Be Written?

That's an easy question. The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, states that 'the pursuit of happiness' is a fundamental human right. No other country has ever referenced happiness in its core documents. So let's go for it.

But if we're all pursuing happiness, as is our right, do we really know what happiness means? And what about pursuit? What exactly does that mean?

In the context of the Declaration of Independence, with its eighteenth-century language, pursuit means something more than chase. It's something beyond pursuing the baseball that's been hit over your head in the outfield or pursuing the best deal on a new car.

The Founding Fathers used pursuit to mean a continuing enterprise, as in a career or even a way of life. In this sense, you could say someone 'pursued' a career in law or medicine. Pursuit, therefore, is quite a substantial word.

Now, what about happiness?

To the Founding Fathers, I doubt that happiness meant a night out on the town, a day at the beach, or another variation of an ecstatic or euphoric experience. I think it was more than that, and in the chapters that follow we'll be looking at what happiness really means. And equally important, what it does not mean.

One thing is certain. If we think of happiness as more than a trip to Disneyland, we may be pursuing happiness but most of us aren't catching up to it, let alone making it the centerpiece of our lives. Instead, we might be catching up to something very different. Unhappiness, the opposite of happiness, or the absence of happiness, is the daily experience of millions of people. I want to change that and I'm confident that I know how to do it. That's why this book needed to be written.

I do realize that putting an end to unhappiness is an ambitious goal. Can it really be achieved?

Sigmund Freud didn't think so. Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis and probably the all-time most influential investigator of human emotion, stated that the most he could offer was relief from phobias, obsessions, and other clear forms of neurotic behavior.

No, psychotherapy can't bring happiness, according to Freud. We have to settle for much less. Maybe we just have to be content with a lower level of misery.

In his book Studies in Hysteria, Freud wrote: 'Much will be gained if we succeed in transforming your hysterical misery into common unhappiness. With a mental life that has been restored to health, you will be better armed against that unhappiness.'

This means that unhappiness is a permanent and incurable condition. We can make ourselves better able to deal with it, but we can't get rid of it. Happiness in a truly positive and fulfilling sense—which is something more than just the absence of unhappiness—is not even in the picture. Even today's huge arsenal of antidepressant drugs can't promise much more than what Freud offered over a hundred years ago. Those drugs, after all, are antidepressants. They combat misery. They can make you feel less bad, but they don't make you feel good. They don't offer happiness. They offer relief.

But again, the Declaration of Independence says we should look for something more than that. We should pursue happiness as a goal, and when we catch up with happiness we should make it the foundation of our lives.

Will we do that? I think we can. We should. We must. Happiness is our birthright. It's why we're here.

2. Why This Book, Why Now?

Strange as it may seem, and despite the fantastic progress that's revolutionized the standard of living for millions of people, there is more unhappiness in America than ever before. Consider this: Compared to a hundred years ago, America has far less disease, less poverty, less racism, less illiteracy, less hunger, and less violence. There are still plenty of problems, but many of the most destructive issues have been diminished or wiped out. For example:

• In 1952 there were more than 50,000 cases of polio in the United States. The disease causes paralysis or death, especially in children, and the cause was unknown. Today, polio has been eliminated in America thanks to the polio vaccine.

• Between 1946 and 1963, the United States exploded eighteen nuclear bombs in the atmosphere. Several of these test explosions took place close to American soldiers and sailors, who later suffered abnormally high rates of cancer and other diseases. Thankfully, there has not been a nuclear explosion in the U.S. atmosphere in more than fifty years.

• In the early decades of the twentieth century, 30 percent of Americans had never attended school at any level, even for one day. One hundred years later, 88 percent of Americans over the age of twenty-five have completed high school and 31 percent have earned a four-year college degree or higher. With all this progress—and there's a lot more, too—are Americans getting happier? No, they're not. Not even close.

The World Happiness Report, issued annually by the United Nations, surveys various countries according to citizens' perception of social support, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income, and good government in their lives. These are important markers of happiness, and we'll have more to say about them in a later chapter. In 2007, the United States ranked third in the Happiness Report. But in 2016, America was nineteenth, a significant decline, behind Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, and many other nations (worldhappiness.report/ed/2017).

Freud may have seemed like a real killjoy when he described unhappiness as a permanent, incurable condition. But maybe his pessimism didn't go far enough. Maybe unhappiness is not only permanent, but rapidly getting worse. Why is this happening?

Gerard Armond Powell is a leading conscious entrepreneur, thought leader, philanthropist and public speaker whose mission is to transform lives. He is the founder of Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, the "go-to" facility for a spiritually awakening vacation experience. He was inspired to create Rythmia, through a powerful encounter with plant medicine that transformed and liberated him from a lifetime of suffering. Gerard now spends his days living at the resort and guides each guest seeking their personal transformation. Over 94 percent of guests have reported that they received their "miracle." This led Gerard to create this book as a tool to help many others.